Concert Review: Eat The Turnbuckle, Without MF Order, Devil Baby, Bonerkill and Gorgatron at Fubar in St. Louis, MO 21-Apr-2014

Monday nights are meant for wrestling and for music. On April 21, 2014 five bands who share a love for wrestling appeared at Fubar in St. Louis, Missouri for a night of bloody, but good-natured, mayhem.

On a side note, I love Fubar. If you’re ever in St. Louis looking for a good rock/metal show, Fubar is the place to go. They are consistently booking some of the best up and coming artists along with smaller established acts. Yes, it is small, but being able to see these high caliber artists in such an intimate setting is priceless.

Eat The Turnbuckle, who formed in 2011, is a six-man band from Philadelphia who are known for their ultra-violent performances. The band members attack one another with a variety of implements (ladders, fluorescent tube light bulbs, barbed wire maces) and the audience is invited to join in. You get the idea. It’s televised wrestling brought to life, but with musical accompaniment… and beer… and blood… lots of blood!

Every member was bloody, by the end of their set, with a complementary Jackson Pollack styled design on the floor. With names like Chubb Rock (guitar), El Shlak-O (guitar), Jag 13 (vocals), Beerdust (drums), Chris Fear (vocals), and Captain Hook (bass), what else could you expect? Although the band might have physically suffered, their performance did not. Their set was fantastic and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed they could pull off such violent moves while playing their instruments at the same time.

Local band, Without MF Order, is another band whose love for wrestling shines through on their songs and through their singer’s performance. Captain Perverto is an incredible singer who is backed by Scumby (guitar), Ramrod (bass) and Crash (drums). Perverto’s antics are legendary in the St. Louis area.

The band has been together since 1998 with Perverto joining them in 2005. Perverto encourages audience members to hit him with various implements while he sings. His arsenal changes occasionally, but generally includes a trash can lid, a cane, barbed wire, and metal trays.

Punch Him in the Head is the only song weapons are not used on him. Instead, he approaches audience members, one by one, and invites them to punch him in the head while he sings. Again, this band is not for the squeamish or faint of heart!

Devil Baby, a four-man band who have been together for only about a year, played a different type of set. They are from Minneapolis, MN and blend rock, punk, and rockabilly with a piano in a way that give some old songs (Chantilly Lace, Tutti Frutti) a brand new kick. Elsteevee sings and pounds the keys (doing Jerry Lee Lewis better than Jerry Lee Lewis has in a LOOOONG time). The rest of the band consists of Sweatyfingaz (drums), Killa Lutzilla (guitar) and The Dooker (bass) who provide a solid backdrop to Elsteevee’s talents.

Another local band, Bonerkill, played early in the evening. Of course, true to the theme of the night, it was a set overflowing with wrestle mania. This includes the singer stripping down to his wrestling trunks (and knee-high boots), then strutting at the front of the stage and throughout the crowd. Given his 6’4″ (or more!) frame, long blond hair and beard, he cut an imposing figure. And, like the other bands, the members use aliases: Sieg Kyle, Thrashpants, Dave Grohl, and Gunboat. According to Sieg Kyle, they kill WITH boners, hence their name! Bonerkill play a fun, tongue-in-cheek set rooted in metal, thrash, punk, and… you guessed it, wrestling.

Gorgatron was a last minute addition to the evening’s line up. Formed in Fargo, ND in 2007, Gorgatron is a death metal/grindcore foursome. Although their sound differed vastly from the other bands on the ticket, Gorgatron’s wrestling fandom made them fit right in. They were initially scheduled to play in another St. Louis venue however that show fell through. They were staying at the same hotel as Eat the Turnbuckle and were immediately invited to join the line up at Fubar. Oddly, this was the only band of the night to not use aliases: Paul Johnson (guitar), Matt Johnson (drums), Cliff Gustafson (bass), and Karl Schmidt (vocals).

About The Author

Colleen was always the kid with the camera, taking snapshots of anything and everything she found interesting. Fast-forward to her teen years, where she spent much spare time and money on seeing as many live rock 'n roll acts as possible, both established and up-and-coming bands, and having a camera in hand. Colleen works to capture those moments that draw the viewer in and define the mood and energy of the artists and their performances.